Restaurant food preparation often requires defrosting frozen items (entrees, meat etc.). Conventionally, frozen food items (e.g., sealed in a plastic bag) are defrosted by continuously running water over the frozen food item (e.g., placed in a sink) until the temperature of the item is brought to a proper state for preparation. In some cases, frozen food items may additionally be immersed in water for defrosting. However, health regulations and food safety concerns typically may prevent the food item from sitting in water for an extended period of time. For instance, heath regulations often require that water in which a frozen food item is immersed be continually flowing to prevent or reduce bacterial growth. Thus, frozen food items are sometimes immersed in a basin of water and a faucet or other spigot continually pours water into the basin. In such ‘immersion defrosting’ the basin is typically placed in a sink such that water overrunning the top of the basin spills into the sink and is diverted to a drain.
The conventional method for immersion defrosting has several drawbacks. One drawback is that water is provided to the top of the basin holding the frozen item. The frozen item tends to cool the water in the basin such that colder water settles to the bottom of the basin while the typically warmer water from the faucet tends to run over the top edge of the basin. The thermal potential of the warmer water is wasted. A common practice to facilitate mixing the colder water in the bottom of the basin with water flowing into the basin is to increase the flow of water into the basin. However, this results in significantly increased water use. Further, increased flow of water directly into the basin tends to cause splashing of water.
As such, there is a need for a system that defrosts food efficiently, effectively and while reducing water usage.